The senior point guard has been trained to attack. It's the instinct that compelled him to fire an off-target 3-pointer when given a crease of daylight late in Kansas State's overtime loss to Kansas.

It's the same instinct that drove him to score 23 points in No. 10 K-State's 76-57 victory at Nebraska on Tuesday. This is who he is, and who has been coached to be.

"I pressure the heck out of Denis to attack every single time down," coach Frank Martin said. "That's what I like. I don't like walking it up and making 957 passes to get a shot."

Clemente is not an appliance with adjustable settings. He operates best when, like Tuesday, he is racing down the court, flinging passes and firing 3-pointers.

The results may vary, but Martin has no intention of reining in his senior guard.

And if people have a problem with that, well, they can go coach their own team.

"I don't care what people think," Martin said. "Denis plays the way I ask him to play. If people don't like that, they should go coach basketball somewhere.

"He's doing what I ask him to do. If someone doesn't like how he plays, then blame me, because he's doing what I ask him to do."

Tuesday illustrated what K-State (18-4, 5-3 Big 12) can be when its point guard makes shots. Clemente hit 7 of 14 from the floor and 5 of 9 3-pointers, including three straight during a decisive second-half stretch.

The third trey put K-State ahead 53-37 and sent Nebraska fans — most of whom weren't all that enthused about being there to begin with — trudging toward the exits.

"That's when the fans started clearing out," said forward Jamar Samuels, who added 15 points for K-State. "That's something I love to see."

Samuels sensed Clemente was motivated to atone for his 4-for-15 performance against KU, which included a missed 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in overtime.

Clemente, who admittedly applies intense pressure on himself, said he just needed a chance to clear his head.

"Yeah, you know, because I want to do really well," he said. "But you can't be thinking about that. I think everything I'm doing, I'm doing great, for the team and for me. I've made the team look good because of how I run the team. I've got to keep doing that."

The Wildcats certainly looked good Tuesday, showing no noticeable hangover from Saturday's heartbreaking loss to KU. K-State jumped to a 30-15 lead, aided by numerous Nebraska misfires from short range.

After losing to overmatched Nebraska teams here in his first two seasons, Martin recognized the importance of building an early lead.

"When you get down against Doc (Sadler's) team, it's hard to get back in it," Martin said. "We spoke to our guys about that. We said we don't want to get ourselves in that hole, because when you're behind on Nebraska, it's very difficult to get back in the game."

The lead was 42-28 at halftime, but three straight Wildcat turnovers allowed Nebraska (13-9, 1-6) to open the half on a 7-0 run. Martin called timeout, and Clemente took over.

"When we called the timeout, they came into the huddle and policed themselves," Martin said. "Denis responded tremendously."

Martin likes the aggression, and he makes sure Clemente knows it.

"He be telling me all the time, 'Just play your game,'" Clemente said. "'Don't listen to people, what they say about you. You know what you can do. Play your game.'"

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